In Photos - 2016

Looking at my photo portfolio for the year 2016, I just have to think back and be grateful for the opportunity to venture into some places - beautiful places - here in the Philippines and overseas. Mountains, islands and destinations that I have been looking forward to setting my foot into. Particularly Mt. Mayon, Mt. Fuji and Tokyo! 

Oh, Japan. I can recall that during high school I was just wondering if I will ever travel to the land of the rising sun. Well, cliche as it may be but dreams sure come true - and much more. Never have I thought that I would reach the summit of Mt. Fuji! 

Anyway, that was just a part of my 2016. It may as well be the highlight but let me share to you some interesting stories from that year. 

#1. Sky, 3 years old

Sky and the team traversing the grassy area towards Mayon, April 2016

It was in 2016 that I had the chance to climb Mt. Mayon, legally. It was quite a rare chance because the mountain is closed off due to obvious reasons (description of this climb can be found on the first part of The Journey to 100 Mountains in this same blog site). Anyway, what takes the cake is Sky, she was only 3 years old during this climb. She was accompanied by her parents and you gotta hand it to them for exposing her to the outdoors at a young age. It was summer and it was awfully humid in covered areas and the sun is set out to toast you on open areas - just like in the picture. Despite all these, you can never hear Sky complain, or even throw tantrums. She just walked, drank water, ate trail food, rested, then walked some more. Simple things that we ought to learn from this kid.

#2. Trouble Brewing

I don't know what the sky is up to, but it looks awesome. February 2016

One long weekend, we set out to Marinduque and explored two of its gems: Tres Reyes (a group of island named Melchor, Gaspar and Baltazar) in Gasan as well as Maniwaya Island in Sta. Cruz. The trip was uneventful, just chill - just as what a trip to the beach should be. We camped out for the night and as the morning came, we were welcomed by this sight. It's as if the sky does not know what to do, either to rain the sh*t out of us or bless as with a warm sunny weather so it decided to do both - which made it an awesome sight to capture. 

#3. Mecha Mecca

The 1:1 RX-78 Gundam at Odaiba, July 2016

The first Gundam series that I saw was Gundam Wing, when I was in elementary. Since then, I got hooked and watched every series of this anime franchise, from the 1978 original Gundam series up to the recently concluded Iron Blooded Orphans. Maybe the thought of piloting badass robots got me hooked into this. I started assembling Gundam model kits in high school and unknowingly, it reached to up to 60 pieces. So imagine this fanboy seeing this at Odaiba! There's even a museum inside the mall! Reaching this site is an adventure in itself, venturing into the awesome rail system of Japan since I was coming from our hostel in Asakusa. It was great seeing this monument for the last time as it was disassembled later that year. It was just a quick side trip during our free day before we did the Takao-Jinba traverse then Mt. Fuji the day after - not even the rain could stop me from my pilgrimage to my Mecha Mecca.